In dentistry, impressions are oftentimes made of a patient's teeth. To make an impression of a patient's teeth, polyvinyl siloxane (PVS), a silicone elastomer, is poured into a cup of a dental impression tray. The dental impression tray is then pressed onto the patient's teeth, causing the PVS to ooze through a plurality of holes in the dental impression tray and an impression of the patient's teeth is made in the PVS as the residual PVS escapes.
The cup and PVS are then removed from the patient's teeth, and after some time the impression made of the patient's teeth in the PVC hardens. This hardened impression can then be used in various ways, including making dental trays.
To create custom fit dental trays from the hardened impressions, a technique using a vacuuforming machine is used to create the custom fit dental trays from a model made from the impressions. This process is time consuming and may not result in a custom fit dental tray having a uniform thickness.
Custom fit dental trays dental trays may also be made of ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) material and are created using a boil-and-bite method. Such boil-and-bite type trays are used in sports to protect teeth; however, the material that is used is very thick thereby limiting their utility.
Custom fit dental trays are used in a variety of ways. For example, custom fit dental trays are used for teeth bleaching, treatment of periodontal disease, desensitizing teeth, remineralizing teeth, treatment of tooth decalcification, breath freshening, root caries treatment, among others. Solutions of various chemical compositions are placed into the custom formed mouth tray and the tray is placed over the teeth of the user to allow such chemicals to have intimate contact with dental structures undiluted by oral fluids.